On top of that, shampoo and conditioner company Head & Shoulders was quick to release a marketing campaign to celebrate Kenworthy participating in the Olympics.

As the company said in their official announcement:

"As the first openly gay action sports athlete, Kenworthy will be featured within the brand’s Shoulders of Greatness campaign, which highlights all of the things people carry on their shoulders—pride, pressure, expectations—and how that motivates them to overcome any challenges and focus on achieving greatness,’ reads an official statement from the brand.

‘Head & Shoulders celebrates how Kenworthy carries pride in himself, his country, his family and his community, allowing him to achieve greatness as he looks ahead toward PyeongChang."

In addition, Kenworthy also shared how pleased he is to be a part of the company’s campaign.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the Shoulders of Greatness campaign as it resonates with my journey,” Kenworthy says.

"Before coming out, I was carrying so much pressure that I put on myself."

"It wasn’t until I made the decision to come out that I was able to release that weight off my shoulders and find the confidence to be myself, which allowed me to perform my best."

Eric Radford and skating partner Meagan Duhamel qualified on Saturday to join the team representing Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Radford is another gay athlete who’s been to the Olympics before, but only came out afterwards. He participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi with his partner Duhamel. After that, Radford came out through an interview with Outsports.

Things have been going well for Radford and Duhamel after Radford’s coming out.

Professionally, the two went on to the 2015 World Championships and won. Now, they feel confident going into the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“We know what to expect, so much more than the last time. We know what we’re capable of.”

Despite acknowledging being an openly gay athlete, Rippon doesn't want people to think that’s all he is.

“Being gay isn’t what defines me,” he once told GayStarNews, “but it’s a big part of who I am and I like to talk about my coming out because that’s when I started to own who I was as a person.”

“That’s what’s important, not the being gay part but at some point — gay or straight — you need to own who you are. You can’t be afraid of who you are or else you’re afraid of your own potential, and if you don’t own who you are then you can’t grow.”

He also added:

“A few weeks ago, I was asked in an interview … what was it like being a gay athlete in sports,” he said.

“And I said it’s exactly like being a straight athlete. Only with better eyebrows.”

There is one other openly gay male US athlete who might join Rippon in Korea. Gus Kenworthy is still waiting to be qualified for the Winter Olympics. While Kenworthy has been to the Winter Olympics before, this will be his first time going as an openly gay man.